FACT Coalition's U.S. Tax Legislative Asks

The FACT Coalition has released a document detailing their tax legislative asks. The text is below, and you can access a PDF of the document here.

TAX REFORM

The current tax code is full of perks and preferences that create a great deal of unfairness in the tax system. Some large multinational corporations pay little or no federal income taxes, year after year, while domestic‐based businesses large and small commonly pay a quarter or even a third of their income in federal taxes. Some very wealthy taxpayers pay an effective rate almost half of that paid by middle‐income workers. We need tax reform that:

• Stops corporations, large and small, and millionaire investors from avoiding the taxes that support the essential goods and services that government provides.
• Ends the gaming that has turned corporate tax departments into profit centers.
• Provides sufficient revenues for vital services, job creation, and deficit reduction.
  

We ask Congress to enact tax reform that:

1. Ends Corporate Tax Deferral on Foreign Earnings and enacts a true worldwide system of taxing U.S.‐based multinational corporations. Enacts Interim Measures to curtail abuse of current system until a true worldwide system is completely phased in. Rejects a RepatriationTax Holiday that is, in effect, an amnesty for corporations that have dodged their taxes bysending profits and jobs offshore. Rejects a Territorial System that would give multinationals a permanent zero rate on their foreign earnings.
2. Utilizes a “G.E. Rule” that corporate tax reform should be guided by a principle similar to the “Buffett Rule”: multinational corporations should not be paying tax at a lower rate than the small businesses that line Main Street.
3. Closes Corporate Tax Loopholes that allow some profitable companies to pay little or no federal income tax while others pay much higher rates.
4. Limits Use of S Corporation Rules that allow companies with billions of dollars in revenue to reap the benefits created for “small business.”
5. Requires Publicly‐Traded Companies to Disclose Actual Taxes Paid to the IRS so that the public knows the real story about how little taxes some companies pay.
6. Improves Enforcement and Closes the “Tax Gap”

• Combats tax haven abuse
• Increases Internal Revenue Service resources
• Requires automatic tax information exchange with other countries
• Enacts country‐by‐country reporting of financial information by publicly listed companies
• Requires disclosure of the beneficial owners of all U.S. corporations
• Enacts measures requiring MORE, not less, third‐party reporting
• Enacts the Tax Lien Simplification Act
• Allows the IRS to publish a Tax Delinquents List

7. Changes the Rules and Closes Individual Tax Loopholes that allow millionaires to pay a lower rate than middle‐class workers.